This is a post I found on Craigslist. People are so stupid sometimes. I see this person posting all the time with their Giant Malamute crosses. Before it with with a St. Bernard. Now it is even worse!

"I have 2 CUTE PURE Akita Giant Malamute(American Akitas) puppies looking for a loving home! IT TAKES 3 BREEDS TO MAKE AN AKITA AND ONE IS A MALAMUTE! WITH MY GIANT MALAMUTE MAKES THESE PUPPIES AMERICAN AKITAS, WHICH ARE A LARGER AKITA!! 1 male 1 female, 6 weeks old Has 1st shots and de-worming UTD! EMAIL if interested! THERE IS A FEE!!! thank you

@KumaDUDE Idiot on Craigslist answer would likely be: In order for it to be a Tibetan Mastiff you have to have the dogs mate on a mountain top in Tibet and some Tibetan monks have to perform a ceremony.

@umi-san Craigslist does technically ban the "sale" of animals on its site. That's why you can usually flag those ads off (though different communities have different flagging thresholds before an ad gets pulled). People will just repost though. The site remains available for rescues and pets that are in legitimate need of "rehoming." However, there are no set rules on who counts as someone who really needs to rehome their pets, versus someone who's just trying to pull a fast one and make a few quick bucks. That's up to the community to enforce -- which is part of why animal listings are supposed to be filed under "community" instead of of the sale section.

FYI....there is a petition going around, sponsored by Change.org, trying to stop the sale of animals on Kijiji, which is Canada's largest on line classified site. Don't know if it will get anywhere, but at the very least, it's raising more awareness. It's a start.

Edit: maybe it will stop silly, ridiculous ads like this:(Ad for a Saint Berxer)

Only 2 puppies left from my waiting list for this litter One boy and one girl They'll weigh out between 75-90 pounds at full growth First shots dew claws and deworming all done.These dogs are the perfect family pet, as they are the best of both breeds. Playful, but calm Low shedding low to no drooling, This dog wll be the best dog you've ever had You will be the envy of all your dog owning friends as all my past parents have said they are. WARNING!!!!! When taking your new fur baby for a walk leave LOTS of extra time as you will be stop by on lookers on a regular basis. Everyone loves these dogs!!!

Uh...two pups left from "waiting list"??!!....ok

"Until one has loved an animal, a part of one's soul remains unawakened."

Craigslist here doesn't allow selling pets and it can be flagged as well as post the information on CL as buyer beware. What is allowed is a "reasonable" rehome fee. However, there has been a scam where people post free pets and a certain couple takes them then sells them with a "rehome" fee back on CL. There have been multiple buyer beware posts regarding that couple.

Thank you, I signed the petition in Change.org (that's where I learned that Craigslist had banned the sale of animals). Personally, I've never used the Craigslist service before, I think it's mostly because on the French side of Canada Kijiji is more popular than the other website.

Shiba Inu breed is getting more and more popular in Quebec province. The problem is that in this province there are only a few breeders (two or three and demand for shiba inu is getting huge lately thanks to Hachiko movie). From those breeders, only one I could say that is a responsible breeder. Recently someone contacted me to get information about where she could buy a Shiba Inu puppy. I told this person that if she were interested in adopting I could give her information about shelters where she can find Shibas but if she insisted on getting a puppy, I suggested her to avoid buying on Kijiji. I explained her that on Kijiji there is a big chance that the people selling dogs are backyard breeders who do not have a deep study about the race and they might not do health test on their dogs.

Later, the same person sent me a website that she found on the Internet and asked me my opinion. It was clear that was a broker's website who had USDA license. I explained her what does it mean to have a USDA license and told her my opinion on this site.She also asked my opinion on Kijiji ads. Obviously in all the ads, there were no photos of the sir and the bitch and it was clear that the people were backyard breeders.

Someone from this community posted a while ago 10 questions to make to breeders to help future buyers to get an opinion about the quality of service from the breeder. I provided the lady with the questionnaire so she can ask good questions when she contacts the people selling dogs.

I gave her a lot of information so she can make an opinion for herself, I just hope she does not fall into the trap of despair and end up buying a dog on Kijiji or even worse from broker's website !

Well I know I bought my puppy on kijiji (well I bought it in person, afting visiting twice) and she's neither a BYB or a puppy mill. Just someone who bough two shibas from different line and have them as pet/breeder.I understand that some of those adds are wrong, but lets not put all of it in the same baskets!

@Molly_Shibette, your description sounds exactly like that of a backyard breeder. Does your breeder perform health checks on their dogs (OFA, CERF), enrichment activities, etc. I'm not trying to tell you that your breeder is a bad person or that you are a bad person for buying from them. The simple fact is that there are many shades of gray when it comes to finding a "reputable" breeder. In a world where we have a major issue with the pet population, only people who breed with the goal of improving their breed should be bringing puppies into the world.

@umi-san...I'm glad you signed the petition. Like I said before, I doubt it will do much more than to help raise more awareness, but it's a good start.

Kijiji is, IMO, one of the worst tools out there. They are a hot bed for BYB's, and with this very nice campaign going on to stop the sale of animals in pet stores, will surely become even more of a problem concerning mills. I'm thinking that's why Change.org and other organizations are trying to get a step ahead of this potential mess.

As for Kijiji, for example, there are 725 ads in the London(Ont.) area alone, just for 'Dogs and Puppies' for sale. I do like to research, but am not going to go through all these ads to see how far back the ads go. In comparison, there are Zero adds for rescue/ shelter dogs. That's because there is no category for them. Rescues/Shelters have to post ads on the same category as BYB's, mills. A shame!! The other tragedy is how many of these ads are posted by people wanting to rehome dogs...undoubtedly dogs they most like bought off Kijiji in the first place.

Just one more note... Quebec is reported to be the home of well over 1000 mills...I've seen 2000 mentioned on some sites. They have very lax laws, and are not enforcing some of the new legislation that was adopted just over a year ago.

Buyer Beware!!

"Until one has loved an animal, a part of one's soul remains unawakened."

Yeah, Craig's list or Kijiji or the like is not a good source for getting a dog. As Curlytails said, sometimes it turns out good for rescue dogs, but even then....people would be much better off giving up their dogs through rescue (and of course getting them there too).

And I wouldn't believe anything anyone said about a puppy NOT being a byb or mill puppy if bought from one of these sources, unless I had absolute proof.

@RyuDragon Yes exams were performed, as well as hips and knee of parents grand-parents. And dogs were taken care inside the house, in a nice play pen. So you know, for me , byb means they breed in backyard, don't socialize and don't run health check.So to sum it, I don't care my dog didn't come from the top breeder in the world, and that I can't brag about it. It was nice taken care of when it was young, and still is as we have it now. And thanks to kijiji for putting both of us in contact (and still in contact, thanks facebook.)

@Molly_Shibette, I wasn't trying to shame you or anything, it's just very difficult to determine if a breeder is reputable in todays day and age. Given the additional details you provided it sounds like you made a good choice. This forum is all about educating people, and your initial comment sounded a lot like many others I have seen before from people who didnt know the difference between a byb and a reputable breeder. Based on your second comment it sounds like you understand this difference and I commend you for that.

Yes, you are right about Quebec. There are too many puppy mills in the province. Somehow I'm happy that currently we do not see Shibas Inus at the pet shops, but I'm afraid that it is a matter of time before pet shops will start offering Shibas. I'm very sorry for the dogs that have to live all their lives at a puppy mill. Quebec province has the first position in Canada in animal cruelty and lack of proper legislation (I'm not proud of it either). There are a lot of organizations and individuals (including me) asking Quebec government to change the current legislation. It's been really difficult to get the government to act. In a recently interview with the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, when he was asked why he did not change the legislation, the minister respond that the subject was in the jurisdiction of the federal government ! He could do nothing tho change the legislation. However, he says something about a new license for people that has more than 15 dogs. He did not give any details, but for me that sounds like a kind of USDA license to regulate those persons, but that wont change the fact that there are somehow puppy mills. I hope there are not just passing the responsibility between the two governments and a new legislation for Qc will be voted soon. :(

Could you tell me what is the legislation that was adopted over a year ago? thanks for the info.

@tatonka...those are my two favorite breeds, but yeah...don't think I'd be lining up to buy one!Might be better than a Pomsky...definatly not right!!

@umi-san, yeah, I hear you. There is some legislation in the works for some sort of 'permit system'. I have yet to see any details, but it's not being received well by the activist groups.

The new legislation they passed just over a year ago, IF ENFORCED, would help. It mainly increases fines, gives the government more regulatory control of euthanasia and sterilization, and is much harsher on repeat offenders.

@KumaDUDE Idiot on Craigslist answer would likely be: In order for it to be a Tibetan Mastiff you have to have the dogs mate on a mountain top in Tibet and some Tibetan monks have to perform a ceremony.